Follow the Money: The Most Popular College Football Public Betting Picks for Week 5

Robert Criscola - Betting Analyst at Covers.com
Robert Criscola • Betting Analyst 11+ years betting experience
Updated: Oct 3, 2026 , 08:42 AM ET • 4 min read

Let's take a look at the most popular outright win picks at Kalshi for Week 5 of the college football season, featuring Alabama as a big road favorite vs. Mississippi State.

Alabama Crimson Tide NCAAF Desmond Umeozulu
Photo By - Reuters Connect. Alabama Crimson Tide linebacker Desmond Umeozulu.

Kalshi customers have been making their Top 25 predictions throughout the week, and with a big Saturday of games ready to kick off, we're looking at the college football public betting report!

Alabama is among the more popular college football picks for Week 5. Keep reading to find out which other teams are being traded en masse on October 3.

College football public betting picks for Week 5

Matchup Pick
Alabama Alabama
vs
Mississippi State Mississippi State
Alabama
67%
Notre Dame Notre Dame
vs
UNC North Carolina
Notre Dame
93%
Florida Florida
vs
Missouri Missouri
Florida
66%
Ohio State Ohio State
vs
Iowa Iowa
Ohio State
84%
Kentucky Kentucky
vs
South Carolina South Carolina
South Carolina
55%

Probabilities courtesy of Kalshi, one of our best prediction market apps. For help understanding Kalshi probabilities, please see our odds calculator.

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NCAAF public betting picks and analysis for Week 5

Alabama vs Mississippi State: Alabama

Kalshi probability: 67% | Volume: $2,198,608

Mississippi State is proving to be an inspiring story thus far with Kamario Taylor under center, but Alabama is once again ready to play the villain role in the eyes of Kalshi customers.

The Crimson Tide are taking about two-thirds of the action ahead of kickoff with over $2.1 million invested.

Check out our full Alabama vs. Mississippi State predictions.

Notre Dame vs North Carolina: Notre Dame

Kalshi probability: 93% | Volume: $1,382,409

Notre Dame is getting the lion's share of the support vs. Bill Belichick and North Carolina this week.

The Tar Heels have had a week off and are miles ahead of where they were last year, but they're still behind the eight ball in this matchup.

Check out our full Notre Dame vs. North Carolina predictions.

More Week 5 College Football picks from Covers  

Florida vs Missouri: Florida

Kalshi probability: 66% | Volume: $1,066,434

With over $1 million in volume, its Florida that's getting about two of every three dollars from Kalshi traders.

Can Missouri's stingy defense make a game of it in Columbia?

Check out our full Florida vs. Missouri predictions.

Ohio State vs Iowa: Ohio State

Kalshi probability: 84% | Volume: $899,727

Over 84% of Kalshi customers see Ohio State spoiling the ESPN College Gameday appearance in Iowa City.

Rob Paul is also fading Iowa while backing the Over.

Check out our full Ohio State vs. Iowa predictions.

Kentucky vs South Carolina: South Carolina

Kalshi probability: 55% | Volume: $833,436

Kentucky is ranked while South Carolina isn't, but it's the Gamecocks that are preferred at Kalshi.

South Carolina has 55% of the money with over $800,000 invested.

Chris Vasile makes the case for Kentucky in his college football moneyline picks for Week 5.

Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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Robert Criscola - Covers.com
Betting Analyst

Robert M. Criscola’s road to becoming a Covers publishing editor began with an internship at Metro New York, which eventually turned into a freelance job at MetroBet covering many sports from a wagering angle, including horse racing. He continued to focus on “The Sport of Kings” by writing for shapperdacapper.com, danonymousracing.com, and informer.fanxt.com before joining the team at the TwinSpires Edge in 2019 as a regular contributor and weekend editor. “Crisco” began writing game previews for Covers in 2022 and joined the editing team in 2023.

His best advice for sports bettors? Bet with your head, not over it.

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